An Inconclusive Conclusion

When we last left our merry band o' dungeon crawling fools, they had managed to kill a couple of grumpy trolls, and found the king's birth certificate. Now, they just need to get out of this labyrinth. Fortunately, they already found the exit during their earlier wandering. Unfortunately, there are more of those light-hating wraiths.

The battle is a mess. Nobody on either side can score any hits, although Taug at least avoids hitting himself this time. Thandril provides Mage Armor for everyone except Will, a decision that isn't going to endear the Wizard to the Ranger any time soon. Taug manages to finish one, as the wizard decides to summon bats, to little effect. Will has run out of arrows, but is having more luck hitting the Wraiths with his sword, anyway. Roric finishes the second wraith, only for a Death Wraith to emerge. The battle drags on, both sides still struggling to score hits. Thandril decides now is the time to experiment with summoning a giant beetle, even though he doesn't know how to use it. Eventually, the Wraith falls under the assault of whatever the team can manage to throw at it. At least nobody takes much damage.

Sunlight, wonderful sunlight. They've escaped the labyrinth! The party is supposed to head for Cranville to meet their contact, but encounter some farmers along the way, who warn of recent problems along one of the roads to town, something to do with strange voices. The party, low on supplies, opts to avoid unnecessary fighting and take the other road. This results in a mostly uneventful trip into Cranville. The only thing of interest is Will is befriends an osprey, and the William/Oswald duo lives again.

Immediately on reaching the edge of Cranville, a Mrs. Lushin steps out of a tavern offering food and rooms. The team enters, but Rory is eager to find himself a workshop, where he can craft some upgrades. Will is suspicious of this helpful innkeeper, and uses the excuse of needing some arrows to leave with the alchemist. It doesn't take long to find a blacksmith, who is happy to rent a workshop to the gnome for a while. Will inquires about arrows, and is told to check with the fletcher next door. Will feigns stupidity, and wanders the town, looking unsuccessfully for a house belonging to "Fletcher". This keeps him out of whatever might be going down at the tavern, but makes a poor impression on Oswald, who is questioning being a Companion to an idiot.

The orc and the bard, on the other hand, decide now is a good time to get into a drinking contest with some pleasant red-bearded guy sitting in the corner. Thandril at least tries to interrogate the innkeeper, who claims to be their contact. Which is funny, since they're supposed to be meeting a Mrs. Pierce. Thandril decides it's time to go, but Mrs Lushin has other ideas. Taug and Bart break off their drinking to swagger up and intimidate her, to no effect. Unless you consider Taug catching a Magic Missile in the face an effect. The bard does better, actually managing to hurt her, which prompts a lot of cursing. Thandril uses Shocking Grasp, and while he dodges a Fireball sent his way, he can't avoid a barrage of Magic Missiles. He's badly hurt. Taug tries charging to the rescue, but is too drunk and only succeeds in injuring himself. Things look bad for the trio, but as a last-ditch move, Thandril summons spiders. Mrs. Lushin apparently is afraid of those, and flees.

It turns out the friendly red-bearded guy is the actual owner of the tavern. He didn't question why Mrs. Lushin wanted to pretend to be owner for a while, because at least it would be something interesting. He isn't too worried about the damage to his place, either. As he starts to explain some of the more interesting features of the town, like the tourism industry built around nymphs living in a particularly excellent cherry tree, Will and Rory return. Will did finally buy some arrows, and Roric made him a better bow, as well as some chainmail for Taug. Pity it won't protect the orc from self-inflicted damage.

Which is pretty much where we ended. The field season concluded, and the crew scattered to the four corners of the Earth. The campaign wasn't bad for someone who had no experience with the game whatsoever. I wish I'd asked Jo what else she had planned. I do feel like we might have needed to start at a higher level. The battles seemed like a fumbling mess, possibly because we were so limited in our abilities. Or maybe it was just bad dice rolls. Or we're just bad at the game. I appreciated that Jo gave Rory the chance to use some of his crafting skills. In that previous campaign, I know some of the players felt they'd wasted their time putting points into Skills they thought would be good, and then never got to use them.

Anyway, that's it for this feature.